When the crew became the crisis: Air India’s 2009 mid-air brawl

The flight carrying 106 passengers from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow witnessed a mid-air confrontation that raised questions about cockpit discipline and flight safetyThe recent flydubai incident has highlighted an unusual aviation danger: what happens when those responsible for flying an aircraft become part of the crisis themselves.Captain Smit Machchhar was reportedly attacked by his co-pilot during a flight, triggering a dangerous descent before the injured captain managed to open the cockpit door and allow others to intervene. The aircraft eventually landed safely.Seventeen years earlier, an Indian Airlines (then a subsidiary of Air India) flight witnessed a mid-air confrontation that raised similar questions about cockpit discipline and flight safety.A fight at 30,000 feetOn October 3, 2009, Indian Airlines flight IC-884 was carrying 106 passengers from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow.